


Laughing at Stars

by Glory_Jean



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-10
Updated: 2012-01-07
Packaged: 2018-12-01 00:16:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11474616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glory_Jean/pseuds/Glory_Jean
Summary: This is the Doctor and Rose's journey together as they grow from friendship to something more. Can they overcome their separate fears to find a common ground?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/profile)[journeystory](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/). Quotes from _The Little Prince/Le Petit Prince_ by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. PotW transcript from [who-transcripts](http://who-transcripts.atspace.com/2005/transcripts/113_thepartingoftheways.html)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/profile)[**journeystory**](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/). Quotes from _The Little Prince/Le Petit Prince_ by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. PotW transcript from [who-transcripts](http://who-transcripts.atspace.com/2005/transcripts/113_thepartingoftheways.html)  
>  Beautiful cover and chapter art by [](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/)**moodilylit**  
> 

  
**Title:** Laughing at Stars Part 1, chapter 1/5  
**Author:** [](http://glory-jean.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://glory-jean.livejournal.com/)**glory_jean**  
**Character/Paring:** Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose  
**Rating:** Adult  
**Beta Team:** [](http://achuislemochroi.livejournal.com/profile)[**achuislemochroi**](http://achuislemochroi.livejournal.com/) [](http://annissag.livejournal.com/profile)[**annissag**](http://annissag.livejournal.com/) [](http://hidden-n-hot.livejournal.com/profile)[**hidden_n_hot**](http://hidden-n-hot.livejournal.com/) [](http://milieva.livejournal.com/profile)[**milieva**](http://milieva.livejournal.com/) [](http://oobiemcruby.livejournal.com/profile)[**oobiemcruby**](http://oobiemcruby.livejournal.com/) [](http://royalladyemma.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://royalladyemma.livejournal.com/)**royalladyemma**  
**Setting:** S2 post AoS  
**Summary:** This is the Doctor and Rose's journey together as they grow from friendship to something more. Can they overcome their separate fears to find a common ground?  
**Disclaimer:** Based on characters owned and created by BBC. No infringement intended.  


__________________________________________________

  


 

_Let the tigers come with their claws..._

 

Rose glowed like a goddess where she stood above him. She was a wonder to behold but he could take no joy in it. She was also dying right in of front him. A thousand threads of possibility flickered around her as her life dangled on a precipice.

"The sun and the moon... the day and night." Rose marvelled. "But why do they hurt?"

The Doctor hung his head in despair. "The power's gonna kill you and it's my fault." He watched as a tear traced down her cheek.

"I can see everything. All that is... all that was... all that ever could be."

One of the Doctor's hearts stopped for a moment. Suddenly he knew what he had to do. All doubt suddenly cleared from his mind. He stood, resolute, ready to face whatever came.

"That's what _I_ see. All the time. And doesn't it drive you mad?"

"My head," she whimpered. "It's killing me — "

He took her hands. "Come here. I think you need a Doctor."  


Somewhere a planet burned. Will burn. Is burning now. A people are dead, dying, doomed to die. The temporal triality made even his mind ache. All things are, will be and have been. The burning will never end. Especially within himself.

He saw it in his dreams and when he closed his eyes. His choice, his actions. Cause and effect. Time lines converging, tearing, merging, and dying. A universe convulsing in the throes of life and death. Whether it was birth, rebirth, or the spiralling cycle of death and unmaking, even his Time Lord senses could not determine which. It was too much, too big. Even for him. Even for _them_. The Time Lords simply ran out of time. Dramatic irony or perhaps just karma on a cosmic scale. The price of their great hubris; their belief that they could control it all. And he – perhaps, of all of them, the most guilty of that particular sin – left alone to bear witness to it all. Mercy or judgment; or, perhaps, a little of both.

This time he welcomed the burn of living time as he coaxed the reluctant piece of his ship's heart to leave Rose and make itself whole again. Perhaps, if he was very lucky, he would burn out like a star and not even regenerate. No new man walking away this time. He'd still have enough time to make one last trip to London...

Bit by bit, he separated the two souls who had merged out of misguided love for him. But, just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief and break the kiss, (a not-strictly-necessary indulgence on his part) some _one_ , whether ship or companion he could not tell, grabbed hold of the trailing wisps of his consciousness and dragged him under.

 

_Live_ , it whispered. _Live, for me._


	2. The Prince and The Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the Doctor and Rose's journey together as they grow from friendship to something more. Can they overcome their separate fears to find a common ground?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt:** [prompt 1:](http://psynos.net/neverwill/suspense/tumblr_kw3dhszcqs1qzr6ooo1_500.jpg) [ prompt 14, pic 31](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/13674.html#cutid1)  
> [prompt2](http://psynos.net/neverwill/prompt21/hammock.jpg): prompt 21 pic 9  
>  **Notes:** Written for Transcript from: [Who Transcripts ](http://who-transcripts.atspace.com/2006/transcripts/204_thegirlinthefireplace.html)  
>  Beautiful cover and chapter art by[](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/) **moodilylit**  
> 

**Title:** Laughing at Stars  
**Author:** [](http://glory-jean.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://glory-jean.livejournal.com/)**glory_jean**  
**Character/Pairing:** Ten/Rose  
**Rating:** Adult  
**Setting:** S2 post AoS  
**Summary:** This is the Doctor and Rose's journey together as they grow from friendship to something more. Can they overcome their separate fears to find a common ground?  
**Beta Team:** [](http://achuislemochroi.livejournal.com/profile)[**achuislemochroi**](http://achuislemochroi.livejournal.com/)[](http://annissag.livejournal.com/profile)[ **annissag**](http://annissag.livejournal.com/)[](http://hidden-n-hot.livejournal.com/profile)[ **hidden_n_hot**](http://hidden-n-hot.livejournal.com/)[](http://milieva.livejournal.com/profile)[ **milieva**](http://milieva.livejournal.com/)[](http://oobiemcruby.livejournal.com/profile)[ **oobiemcruby**](http://oobiemcruby.livejournal.com/)[](http://royalladyemma.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://royalladyemma.livejournal.com/) **royalladyemma**  
**Disclaimer:** Based on characters owned and created by BBC. No infringement intended.  
**Prompt:** [prompt 1:](http://psynos.net/neverwill/suspense/tumblr_kw3dhszcqs1qzr6ooo1_500.jpg) [](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/profile)[**never_ever_will**](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/) [ prompt 14, pic 31](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/13674.html#cutid1)  
[prompt2](http://psynos.net/neverwill/prompt21/hammock.jpg): [](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/)**never_ever_will** prompt 21 pic 9  
**Notes:** Written for [](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/profile)[**journeystory**](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/) Transcript from: [Who Transcripts ](http://who-transcripts.atspace.com/2006/transcripts/204_thegirlinthefireplace.html)  
Beautiful cover and chapter art by [](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/)**moodilylit**  
_______________________________________________________________

  
  


 

_"Flowers.... are naïve.... They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons..."_

 

"Sometimes I think that your thoughts," she said in a dreamlike tone, stretching out her hand to an unseen point, "are silver threads hovering just out of reach." Her fist closed suddenly. "And if I'm fast enough, I can catch one or two."

His breath caught and, just for a moment, time shivered and bent around them before righting itself with a delicate hiccough.

 _Sometimes,_ the Doctor thought, _I think I did a terrible job of separating you from the vortex._

And the worst part was, he wasn't sure if he was horrified or enthralled.

 

  
  


_"'Si quelqu'un aime une fleur qui n'existe qu'à un exemplaire dans les millions d'étoiles, ça suffit pour qu'il soit heureux quand il les regarde. Il se dit: "Ma fleur est là quelque part_ "... '" the Doctor read.  
  
Rose shifted against him, turning until she could rest her head on his shoulder. Without missing a beat in his reading, he resettled his arm around her and turned a page in the book.

She tried to focus on the words he was saying, the ones he was _really_ saying, separate and distinct from the translation going on in her head. Ever since the Doctor had tried to explain how he could hear both at once, she was determined to do the same. So far she had only managed to hear one or the other. Despite the Doctor's assurances that she was doing remarkably well in her attempts, his ill-concealed smirk had made her wonder if he wasn't "helping" her out a bit.

_"'The night had fallen. I had let my tools drop from my hands. Of what moment now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death? On one star, one planet, my planet, the Earth, there was a little prince to be comforted. I took him in my arms, and rocked him. I said to him:_

_"'La fleur que tu aimes n'est pas en danger... Je lui dessinerai une muselière, à ton mouton... Je te dessinerai une armure pour ta fleur... Je...'"_

Rose grimaced as the translation slipped away again. She forced her body to relax as the Doctor had taught her, to not try quite so hard. Then all at once it was as though the Doctor's voice echoed, doubled in her mind.

_"'Je ne savais pas trop quoi dire. Je me sentais très maladroit. Je ne savais comment l'atteindre, où le rejoindre..._

_"'I did not know how I could reach him, where I could overtake him and go on hand-in-hand with him once more.'"_

Rose gasped and sat up.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"

"I did it!" she breathed.

"Did what...?"

"I mean, I heard it. It was like there were two voices in my head. Two languages. But not. I could hear what you were saying and what you were _really_ saying." Rose huffed in frustration. "Oh, I'm not explaining this right!"

"No, I understand what you mean." He looked at her, his expression carefully neutral. "Well done," he said quietly, entirely without enthusiasm.

Rose frowned a little, irritated by his reaction. "Thanks," she said flatly.

His eyes dropped for a moment and he looked a little guilty. With a sheepish grin, he met her eyes again. "You, Rose Tyler, are entirely too clever for your own good."

This close to his smiling eyes she was powerless to stay annoyed with him. Her irritation melted away and she found herself grinning back.

"So, we—" he began.

"Do ya—," she said at the same time and they both broke off, laughing.

"Go 'head," she offered.

But he shook his head and waved the offer off.

"Okay," she felt strangely awkward. "Just wondered if we should stop here for tonight since it's the end of the chapter."

The corner of his mouth quirked upward ever so slightly. "Read my mind. You were on the verge of drifting off a few times there. Keep this up much longer and you'll fall asleep on me and I'll be hopelessly trapped."

Rose made a face and playfully slapped at his shoulder. "Oh, and now you'll claim to fear the 'wrath of Rose Tyler' because I'm _so_ grumpy when you wake me."

He spread his hands and sighed dramatically, "Welll, the other morning you did have a particular quality in your voice—"

"What, when you were jumping on my bed?"

"— that hearkens back to a certain female antecedent —"

"Jumping, Doctor! Like a hyperactive toddler or something!"

"Yes, that's it, right there."

"Wait, are you trying to say something snide about my mother?"

"What? No, never. Your mother's a lovely women. With excellent aim."

Rose laughed and went to tease him about learning to duck, but instead she felt the smile slide from her face. A familiar strangeness swept over her. And, dancing just out reach near the Doctor's head, she could almost make out silver filaments of light. She stretched out her hand to them: her fingertips could _almost_ touch.

"Sometimes I think that your thoughts," she said, halfway in a dream, "are silver threads hovering just out of reach." She tried to grasp one of those filmy strands hovering, just there. "And if I'm fast enough, I can catch one or two."

She opened her hand, disappointed to see it was empty. When she looked back at the Doctor, his eyes were wide and fearful.

"What's wrong?" She frowned.

He shook his head, easing out from under her and drawing her to her feet.

"Time you were in bed. Sleeping. Think we'll take it easy tomorrow. The TARDIS could use some maintenance. You can have a nice, long lie-in. You always like that."

She _was_ tired so she didn't complain about his strange behaviour and, instead, let him lead her to her door and bid her good night.

  


__

_I must endure the presence of two or three caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies._

Rose tossed restlessly in her bed, casting a weary glance out of her "window." When the Doctor had shown her to her room for the first time, she'd quickly found the four solid walls claustrophobic. Then, after a particularly long day, when all she'd wanted was to collapse and sleep but secretly dreaded those oppressive walls, she'd entered the room to find a simulated window had appeared on the far side of the room.

It was currently displaying a moonlit countryside complete with the peaceful sound of some chirping insect's song. Rose sighed. She usually found it soothing, but not tonight. Tonight, her mind would not be still. So much had happened recently. It was finally hitting home how very unsafe her lifestyle was.

Rose had begun to realise exactly what it meant to be heroic. She'd tried to explain it to her mother the first time the Doctor had left her behind to save the day on his own. Even Mickey had heard that call and left her for a place where he could do something that mattered. Live that better life the Doctor had shown him; be noble and give her up because even sweet, thick Mickey could see where her heart lay.

But, as much as she missed Mickey, it was another goodbye that had haunted her dreams that night.

 

> _  
> _
> 
> "Well, can't we just smash through it?" Mickey demanded.
> 
> "Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We need a truck."
> 
> "We don't have a truck."
> 
> "I know we don't have a truck!" the Doctor bellowed impatiently.
> 
> "Well, we've gotta try something!" Rose scanned his face.
> 
> The Doctor met her eyes for moment, then looked away. "No, smash the glass, smash the time window; there'd be no way back."
> 
> The Doctor paced frantically, hands in his hair, ruffling it until it nearly stood on end.
> 
> “You've got to help them, Doctor.”
> 
> “I know! But how? I'd have to shatter the time windows. It's not like I can ride in there like a knight on a white horse to —, “
> 
> A loud whinny and a snort caused all of them to spin around.
> 
> “Arthur!” The Doctor shouted, elated, “Of course! I'll—” He deflated suddenly. “I can't.”
> 
> “Why not?” Rose asked.
> 
> “Rose, I'd be trapped there. No way back. All the windows would break at once.”
> 
> The screams grew louder.
> 
> “Do it.” Rose said softly.
> 
> “What?”
> 
> “Do it.”
> 
> The Doctor gave her a hard look. “I can't. No. Way. Back.”
> 
> “You have to. You know you do. Those things – they're messin' with history. You can't let 'em kill her. What would happen to the world if they changed things?”
> 
> "Fixed points," he muttered darkly.

__  


As he'd looked back at her longingly before he'd charged off into history (and on white horse no less), it had come to her as a revelation. When the choice was her or the world, (the universe, or even the fabric of time itself), he would always choose the world. And that was the way it _had_ to be. She did understand that even if, clearly, the Doctor didn't think she _could_.

"The Doctor and the monsters," Rose whispered to herself.

She turned back to her imaginary window though its comfort was elusive. But as she stared at the impassive scene, the insects hushed and the moon clouded over. Then the sound and smell of a soft summer rain filled the room. She smiled in spite of herself and soon drifted off to sleep in the embrace of the storm.

 

 


	3. Chapter 2: Leap of Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the Doctor and Rose's journey together as they grow from friendship to something more. Can they overcome their separate fears to find a common ground?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt:** prompt:[](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/profile)[ **never_ever_will**](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/) [prompt 8 pic 9](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/6785.html#cutid1)  
>  **Notes:** Written for [](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/)**journeystory** Quotes from _The Little Prince/Le Petit Prince_ by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
> 
> Beautiful cover and chapter art by [](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/)**moodilylit**  
> 

  
**Title:** Laughing at Stars  
 **Author:** [](http://glory-jean.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://glory-jean.livejournal.com/)**glory_jean**  
 **Character/Pairing:** Ten/Rose  
 **Rating:** Adult  
 **Setting:** S2 post AoS  
 **Summary:** This is the Doctor and Rose's journey together as they grow from friendship to something more. Can they overcome their separate fears to find a common ground?  
 **Beta Team:** [](http://achuislemochroi.livejournal.com/profile), [ **achuislemochroi** ](http://achuislemochroi.livejournal.com/)[](http://annissag.livejournal.com/profile)[ **annissag** ](http://annissag.livejournal.com/) ,[](http://hidden-n-hot.livejournal.com/profile)[ **hidden_n_hot** ](http://hidden-n-hot.livejournal.com/)[](http://milieva.livejournal.com/profile)[ **milieva** ](http://milieva.livejournal.com/)[](http://oobiemcruby.livejournal.com/profile)[ **oobiemcruby** ](http://oobiemcruby.livejournal.com/) [](http://royalladyemma.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://royalladyemma.livejournal.com/)**royalladyemma**  
__________________________________________________________________ 

  
  


 

 

 

_When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey..._

 

The Doctor wondered whether he had finally lost his mind. He could not stop watching Rose. Her remarkable statement the other evening had left him confused and spellbound while she seemed to have not even fully realised what she had said and done. She was just... Rose. As she had always been. Well, almost. Approximately. Actually, he was worried about that as well. She was _not_ quite herself. She was... diminished. As if Prometheus had come and stolen some of her fire. And Rose without her fiery, Tyler, Rose-ishness (and clearly he had run out of adjectives here) was just wrong.

He belatedly realized he had been staring at her the entire time he had been pondering the mystery of Rose Tyler. He didn't think she had noticed, thankfully. Or, if she had, she hadn't said anything to him about it. The fact that he couldn't stop his eyes from fixing on her as she trudged tiredly ahead of him despite their current circumstances said a lot about his current mental state. His earlier distraction had led him to forget about some small but important details regarding this planet. One or two tiny - well, okay _moderate_ \- violations of social mores had managed to annoy the locals greatly.

 

> _"Oh, come on! Surely this isn't necessary, is it?"_
> 
> _The magistrate's glare suggested otherwise but nothing ventured, nothing gained after all._
> 
> _"What if we, Rose and I, give a sincere, heartfelt apology, and you lot... forgive and forget? We depart immediately in our, um, space ship, never to darken your door again. You know what they say about holding a grudge, don't you?"_
> 
> _If anything, the magistrate's glower intensified._
> 
> _"No? 'Holding a grudge is like letting someone live rent-free in your head.' And you wouldn't want that—" It was around then Rose's elbow delivered a fairly sharp blow to his side._
> 
> _"No?" he murmured in an undertone. "It occurs to me that I'm not sure if 'they' actually say that or if I just made it up."_
> 
> _"I think you just made it worse, Doctor."_
> 
> _Indeed, when he'd looked up again the magistrate's eyes were starting to cross — never a good sign with this species._

 

Another day, another arrest and conviction. At least they were a non-violent race. Most of the time. They did lean toward inventive punishments, though. Certainly, a forced march under armed guard up a steep hillside to a prison they were _meant_ to escape from didn't happen every day. But no matter how creative this sentence was turning out, the mystery that was Rose pushed all other thoughts to the wayside.

He pondered ways to con her into the med bay to run a few - dozen - tests on her without worrying her, but each new plan seemed more unlikely than last.

At last they reached a rocky outcropping and the road ended abruptly. Rose glanced over at him for the first time that afternoon then turned back to stare at a wall of rock interrupted only by the forbidding door carved into it. It seemed they had arrived.

  


It had been one of _those_ days with the Doctor.

Rose sighed and tried to smooth her sweaty hair away from her face. If they were going to be stranded in a deep, dark cave, would it have killed them to think of a better way of getting there than a hot, dusty hike up a hillside? She cast a quick glance at the Doctor just in time to see his eyes dart away like a skittish colt. Probably afraid of being shouted at, she smirked slightly to herself. Not that he didn't completely deserve to be, of course.

It had _really_ been one of those days. First, they'd landed in the wrong century and on a completely different planet than the one the Doctor had promised. No matter, he'd said. This planet had plenty offer as well. Then, the Doctor proceeded to quickly offend the local magistrate so now they were to be cast into the Cave of the Three Challenges TM. (Apparently copyright law was a Big Deal here, capital ‘B’, capital ‘D’.) Personally, Rose felt anything with such a melodramatic name couldn't be for real and the Doctor - having seen the local tech - had assured her it was nothing more than a high-tech light show designed to terrorise offenders.

Once the entrance was sealed behind them, he brandished the sonic like a talisman and waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Come on then. Let's see what this _Cave of the Three Challenges TM,_" he intoned melodramatically, "is all about."

They moved forward, passing through what could be called the cave’s anteroom. Leading off it was a single passageway. The narrow, winding path was lit with artificial lights and the air smelled of the singed dust that danced in their glow. Rose was thankful for the light; the sonic wouldn't be much use as a torch here.

Up ahead, a low, rumbling sound was building in volume as they neared it. Soon the high pitched whirring of machinery joined in. Rose shuddered; it sounded like just like...

Just then they turned a corner and saw it. The path ahead was obstructed by an assortment of blades and grasping mechanical appendages. It would have been laughably over-the-top were it not for the evil glimmer of razor-sharp metal and the accompanying metallic whine. But beyond that, Rose shivered for another reason entirely. It was uncomfortably reminiscent of the cyber-factory that still haunted the dark edges of her dreams. Even now that it was long over, even after clinging tightly to her mum - her _real_ mum - she couldn't entirely banish the horror of that unfeeling metal voice declaring itself to be Jackie Tyler.

The Doctor glanced at her stricken face where she stood frozen beside him. "No worries here, Rose," he assured her. "It's all for show."

He aimed the sonic at the machinery and, with a loud pop and a flash of sparking light, the whole thing shorted out. The arms and blades dropped and continued to spark and jerk with little whines of protest. He slipped his hand into hers and began to lead her down the narrow corridor, past the broken machinery. The disabled arms made sounds like angry wasps searching for someone to teach a lesson to as Rose and the Doctor passed by them. Her breath became ragged in her chest and she hoped that the Doctor couldn't hear her being so silly about this.

Rose jumped as a shower of sparks flashed briefly just ahead. The Doctor wordlessly pulled her in, sliding his arm around her shoulder and tucking her into his side. Once they cleared the corridor, he paused and turned her to face him.

"All better now?" he asked as he crushed her into a quick hug.

Forcing her breathing back into a normal rhythm, Rose nodded and tried to smile, but she feared it came out as more of a grimace.

  


The Doctor stared at the back of Rose's head in concern. She was still trembling after the first challenge, despite the fact that they had been standing in the empty chamber just beyond for several minutes now. He had paused here, claiming the need to think, to give her time to calm. Her terror was completely out of proportion to the situation: something was amiss with her. He was torn between the desire to ask her what was wrong and pressing need to get out of here.

What if talking about it only upset her more, he pondered, unhappily. Now was not the time for that. No, he decided, better to have it out in the safety and relative calm of the TARDIS.

"So onward then?" he asked her cheerfully. He hoped his apparent mood shift would be as contagious as it tended to be for her.

"Already?" she responded with uncharacteristic uncertainly. "You work things out then?"

"Well, as much as I can. Might as well get moving."

She nodded and came to stand at his side, watching him carefully.

"Rose," he began.

"Yes?" she asked quietly beginning to rub at her fingernails in a classic sign of Rose distress.

"Are you – Is everything —" he stopped and just _looked_ at her.

"Doctor?"

"Is there anything you need to tell me, Rose?"

A panicked look flickered briefly over her face. But then she assumed a puzzled look and shrugged. "Like what?"

He rubbed at the back of his neck in mild frustration. "Like... anything. Like... 'this is another fine mess you've gotten me into, Doctor.'"

At last he was rewarded with a small smile. "Well, I would have thought that was obvious."

He sniffed. "Occasionally minor details escape even me."

"No, not gonna even touch the 'minor' part but 'occasionally'? How about the London Eye, larger than life? Oh, and last week on..."

"Oi! Watch it there, someone might think you doubt my stunning intellect."

Rose smirked and moved closer. "Oh, we couldn't have that now."

Suddenly drawn in, he moved to close more of the non-existent distance between them and took her hand. He was lost in contemplation of the golden flecks in her eyes, when she squeezed his hand.

"So we were going, then?"

He shook himself. "Yes, right. _Allons-y_!"

Rose grinned a Genuine Rose GrinTM (all too rare recently) and tugged on his hand.

Well, that had worked brilliantly. She was Rose again, fears vanquished for the moment. He couldn't have planned that better, (which he had of course). Thoroughly pleased with himself, he grinned and laced their fingers together. Ready for anything, they walked through the next corridor. When the next chamber opened up before them, they were confronted with a yawning chasm without a visible bottom. It divided the cavern neatly in two. The path to the exit stretched away invitingly on the far side. All too far away.

Rose was once again looking at him with wide, fearful eyes, her earlier bravado melted away like ice.

  


Rose regarded the gap in front of her with a sinking heart. The walls of the chasm pitched downward at a dizzying angle and vanished into a sea of blackness. The bottom could have been inches or miles away, but there was no way of knowing.

The Doctor looked at it speculatively. Then his sharp eyes scanned the chamber.

"I think... We can jump over it."

She stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"When do I joke about these things, Rose?" He regarded her with a small smile. "Come on, what can't we do? Sir Doctor of TARDIS and Dame Rose - fairy tale heroes of legend."

"Isn't this all a little Indiana Jones?"

He looked at her quizzically.

"You know the movie? Holy Grail - leap of faith - all that?"

He sighed. "Rose, if I listed for you all the cultures who have myths and stories including the leap of faith motif, it would make your head spin."

She frowned at him and looked uncertainly at the blackness below.

"Come on, Rose. Don't you trust me?"

Now he was playing dirty and her shoulders slumped in defeat. He grinned in cheeky triumph.

At the count of three, Rose shut her eyes tightly, gripped the Doctor's hand tightly and jumped.

Her feet landed securely with a crunch of gravel and she opened her eyes. They were standing well on the other side of the chasm.

"Ha!" the Doctor crowed. "I knew it! If you look just there," he pointed at something she couldn't see on the rock wall, "you will see..." He drifted off as he rummaged in his pockets for a moment and produced a cricket ball. "Watch!" With deadly aim, he threw the ball hard at that unseen point and a sharp popping noise filled the air as it struck.

He turned her around and she saw the chasm was gone. The cave floor was now unbroken and solid all the way through.

"What – How— " she stammered in shock.

"A hologram."

"And you knew?"

He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I was pretty sure, yes. When we were standing there, I noticed a slight deviation in the image, what seemed to be a flicker every 22.75 seconds."

"22.75?"

"Wellll, I'm rounding up a bit."

Rose stared at him. "A hologram?"

"Yes?" he answered, carefully.

"And you didn't think to mention this?"

"Oh. Sorry."

"I'll show you sorry, you right—"

"Rose Tyler," he interrupted, eyes wide with exaggerated horror.

Rose subsided and sighed. "Just been a really long day, Doctor."

He wrapped her in a warm hug. She was annoyed by how the comforting gesture made her want to forgive him immediately.

He pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes. "But why worry now? Two down, one to go; we'll be out in no time."

Rose winced. "Oh, good job jinxing us there. You might as well have said 'what could possibly go wrong?'"

"Oh, Rose. You can't be that superstitious."

  


The Doctor was starting to rethink Rose's superstitions. There was definitely something off about this section of the cave. It was as if there was a living presence in the rock itself. He buried his unease deeply, so not to alarm Rose. She'd been on edge enough without his adding to her worries.

As they crossed into a new chamber a mist began to rise around them.

"Well, that's not creepy or anything," Rose grumbled.

The Doctor fought back a small grin. "Stay close."

Within moments all sense of direction was lost. Sound and sight were both obscured.

Rose gasped. "Doctor, do you see that?"

He squinted where she pointed, but there was only the mist. He opened his mouth to tell her that but she abruptly pulled her hand out of his.

"No, wait!" she called and rushed forward. A swirl of mist instantly shrouded her.

"Rose, no!" But she was gone. The mist effectively separated him from her and whatever phantom she was chasing.

He hurtled recklessly after her, but she was simply not there. In seconds, she had completely vanished. Then the mist seemed to clear ahead and he made out a figure lying on the ground. It was Rose, her body sprawled at an unnatural angle. He ran toward her, denial on his lips, but when he reached the spot where she lay, the mist had swirled back in. He dropped to his knees, frantically feeling for her. But there was nothing.

A movement from the corner of his eye had him swinging around. He was in a foggy London back alley. Not a modern London but a London when coal smoke choked the air and blackened the buildings. And there was Rose, looking at him with infinite sadness. Then she turned and moved back into the whiteness. He gave chase in an instant, moving through impossibly winding alleys but there was no sign of her. He called out her name but the sound refused to carry.

Panic began to eat at his rationality as his calm abandoned him. He fought the urge to run blindly through the barely visible streets. He needed to get a hold of himself. So he did what he always did when facing his greatest fears. He stopped. He made himself stand in place and _think_.

What was going on here? Clearly, they had not left the cave. The air movements suggested a very large space, but it was still an interior space. The air smelled of moisture and rock, not the dank, foul streets of an industrial London. Believing his eyes was clearly folly, but he was finding it so hard _not_ to believe. Oh. Why _was_ that exactly? This was so obviously impossible, unless... Of course! Oh, he was thick, so thick. Everything up until now had been largely psychological terrors, things aimed at unnerving and demoralizing. The obvious escalation was a true psychological terror, accessing the greatest fears of the prisoner.

The Doctor dropped to the floor and ran his tongue over the surface in a long swath. He sat very still as he analysed for a moment. Standard mineral dust, igneous rock fragments, traces of sodium chloride, and– oh, hello. Now there was an interesting chemical compound. Unless he was mistaken - and he very rarely was - that was definitely a psychotropic compound he was tasting. Oh, very clever. So, getting past the first two challenges was the easy part. Get past those garden variety fears and find this; the horrors of your own mind, via a nice little chemical distributed in the mist and adsorbed through the skin until you were left chasing images conjured from your own deep-seated fears.

Well, then.

He could control his fear now that he knew to ignore the disturbing images. But Rose was another matter.

  


She was lost. It was dark, so dark. Where was the Doctor? She'd run off because she thought she'd seen... something. What had she seen? Her head was swimming and she could scarcely tell what was happening around her.

"Doctor?" she called.

Suddenly, her vision cleared and the path in front of her lightened. Incredibly, just in front of her stood the TARDIS. She ran to it, pulling out her key and jiggling it in the lock. It refused to turn. She pulled it out, thinking she had it upside down. But before she could fit it back into the lock, the TARDIS began to wheeze and the air around her swirl.

"No, wait!" she cried, pounding at the doors. But they faded under her hands and she was left reaching for air.

Then something worse than the silence reached her ears. The sounds of metal, marching feet. Cybermen! And there was no place she could see to run. She was alone, surrounded by the metal monsters that killed her mum, and the Doctor had left her.

But he wouldn't do that, part of her railed. He'd promised. He...

The sounds stopped abruptly. She looked up and found that she was in the centre of a dark, narrow gorge with sides that stretched impossibly high. One direction vanished into the darkness while at the other end, a small point of light was visible. She sighed and began to move toward the light. As she neared it, she realized it was a puddle of light cast by a lone street lamp set incongruously into the stone. She stood at the edge of the light and nibbled her lip nervously. Everything about this said "trap." After a moment or two of indecision, Rose shrugged. Oh, well; better to just get on with it. She set one foot in the light.

Immediately, the sound of metal footsteps assaulted her ears as a lone figure stepped into the light from the other side.

"Rose Tyler," it announced in its mechanical voice, "you will be upgraded. You will be like us."

"Yeah, don't think so," Rose answered, trying to move back into the shadows only to find her foot would not move.

"I was Jacqueline Tyler. You will be upgraded."

"No!" Rose shouted. Not again; not her mum!

Heedless, the Cyberman continued walking toward her. "You will be upgraded."

Rose was sobbing now as she struggled against the invisible force that held her in place. "Doctor!"

  


Suddenly the Doctor's head jerked up. Rose's voice was screaming his name, but he wasn't _hearing_ it, he was feeling it, echoing in a region of his mind that should be for ever silent.

He moved forward but his eyes were still deceiving him; all he could see was a city that did not exist in this place and time. All right then, if the senses were untrustworthy, then it was time for a little leap of faith of his own. He shut his eyes and reached for that fearful voice. It was difficult navigating though the morass of emotion but he at last caught hold of the sunny yellow thread of consciousness that was pure _Rose_. Then, eyes still tightly shut, he set off in search of her.

The itch to open his eyes and succumb to the airborne chemicals ate at him, but he stubbornly focussed on the pulse in his head, following it like a beacon.

Eventually he found her, her body pressed into an alcove very near the cave's exit. She was shaking and incoherent by the time he reached her. Her skin was damp and a quick swipe across her wrist with his sensitive tongue confirmed the moisture was heavily laden with the compound. It was cruelly logical: the closer you got to the exit, the stronger the concentration of the drug dispersed in the mist. Lifting Rose in his arms, he sonicked the door and kicked it open angrily. Once outside, he laid her down and set the sonic for a medical scan. She seemed to be having an adverse reaction to the compound. She had lost all coherencecy and her body was shifting fretfully where she lay.

He looked around anxiously and spotted their jailers coming toward them. "She needs medical attention immediately! She is having a bad reaction to your ludicrous drug."

The jailer looked at Rose with undisguised disinterest. "She is your species," he replied in the clicks of his language. "You take care of her."

The Doctor grabbed at his hair in irritation. "She's not... never mind. Incidentally, how am I supposed to help her out here, exactly? Can you conjure up the medications I need?"

The jailer gave him a blank look.

"I hope you have transportation out of here; because, if anything happens to her, you'll wish you never set eyes on us."

Something in his tone must have done the trick, because the jailer was suddenly signalling to his companions and moments later they were radioing for an airlift.

The Doctor dropped back down beside Rose and gathered her in his arms. She turned her face to his chest and sighed, her restless flailing subsiding a bit.

"Hold on, Rose," he murmured into her hair, "everything will be fine."

Even as he said it, he was unsure as to whether he was trying to reassure her or himself.

  



	4. Chapter 3:  Human-Hindered Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the Doctor and Rose's journey together as they grow from friendship to something more. Can they overcome their separate fears to find a common ground?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt 1:**[](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/profile)[ **never_ever_will**](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/) [Prompt 12 pic 3](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/11414.html)  
>  **Prompt 2:** [](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/profile)[**never_ever_will**](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/)[Prompt 12 Pic 24](http://neverwill.psynos.net/fairytale/tumblr_l4fpn4AHQc1qbzoomo1_400.jpg)  
>  **Notes:** Written for [](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/)**journeystory** Quotes from _The Little Prince/Le Petit Prince_ by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Chapter title from the song _Human Wheels_ by John Mellencamp.
> 
> Beautiful cover and chapter art by [](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/)**moodilylit**  
> 

  


  
**Title:** Laughing at Stars  
 **Author:** [](http://glory-jean.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://glory-jean.livejournal.com/)**glory_jean**  
 **Beta Team:** **achuislemochroi** [ **annissag** ](http://annissag.livejournal.com/)[ ](http://hidden-n-hot.livejournal.com/profile)[**hidden_n_hot** ](http://hidden-n-hot.livejournal.com/)[](http://milieva.livejournal.com/profile) [ **milieva** ](http://milieva.livejournal.com/)[ ](http://oobiemcruby.livejournal.com/profile)[ **oobiemcruby** ](http://oobiemcruby.livejournal.com/)[](http://royalladyemma.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://royalladyemma.livejournal.com/)**royalladyemma**  
_________________________________________________________________________  


  


 

 

_As for me, I am concerned with matters of consequence.  
There is no time for idle dreaming in my life._

He was _still_ watching Rose. Currently she was sat on the jumpseat while he pretended to adjust some wiring under the console. He'd thought, wrongly, he would have to stop watching her if he was buried up to his chest in machinery. But, if he looked just there, between the multi-loop stabilizer and that bit of dangling wire (that really should be seen to one of these days) he could just see her legs as they swung idly. He shook himself, trying to clear his head. This needed to stop _now_.

He could tell himself all he liked that he was monitoring her recovery from the alien drug, but that wasn't precisely true. She had responded well to the antidote, brushing off his cautions to rest as coddling. Just to be sure, though, he had been carefully distracting her with the dullest planets he could find that sported a passable view or a decent shopping district. He did have to admit on these last couple of trips the bounce in her step as she enthusiastically pulled him from shop to shop had belied just how sick she been.

Had she felt it? Could she feel it now, ticking in the back of that little human head of hers? He experienced it as an itch in the back of his skull. He longed to scratch at it, to push at it and bridge the gap, to connect their two minds. But he held himself still, slapping away his own questing mental fingers that longed to reach out.

This was preposterous. He was _a Time Lord_ , for Rassilon's sake. Time Lords had self-control. But there it was more to it than that. He was the _last_ Time Lord. _The Last._ He was better than this. If he forgot himself - if he stopped behaving as a Time Lord... If he lost everything they were and all that came with it ... Well, he might as well just kill them all a second time for good measure.

Not that he'd ever been particular good at being a proper Time Lord. Not that he'd striven to be especially. They were so, well, _them_. So pompous and arrogant . So certain they knew what was best for the rest of universe, never deigning to so much as ask if they might have had heir own ideas regarding their destinies. No, he wouldn't be surprised to learn that on the day he'd borrowed a TARDIS and forgot to bring it back, his people had done the Numfarian Dance of Joy. Not that Time Lords would _actually_ do the Numfarian Dance of Joy, but still.

Oh, this was getting him nowhere. Almost before he realised what he was doing, his hands were punching keys and pulling levers, spinning them into the vortex toward the first planet that popped into his head.

"Where are we off to?" She asked, looking hopeful.

"Um, parts. There's a crack on the housing of the molecular filter's rear intake. Can't have that failing now. Plus, the best planet for filter parts also has a very nice commercial centre."

He winced as he heard and _felt_ her sigh. A small, rebellious part of him reminded him smugly that Rose would understand if only he allowed their rapport to develop completely.

He led her out of the TARDIS, casting bewildered glances about as he realised that they’d arrived at the Miaere Marketplace. What had inspired this trip he'd _no_ idea. But he still managed to babble a bit about the local colour until Rose seemed to cheer up and was no longer vexed by his sudden need for retail therapy. He breathed a sigh of relief as he led her through the crowds. _Good_ , he thought. A bit of distraction; that was all he needed.

Rose paused at a vendor and, Rassilon help him, he could _feel_ that something had caught her attention. So much for distractions.

  


Rose wandered through the market stalls, pleased that the slight weakness that had dogged her steps ever since running into that toxic fog was finally gone. The Doctor had told her she'd had a particularly bad allergic reaction to it. Fortunately, she'd been oblivious to the worst of it. She did have vague memories of being carried, combined with the soothing sound of the Doctor's voice, the feel of his suit coat under her cheek, and his strangely honeyed scent. Naturally, she hadn't shared any of _those_ details with him. A part of her was sorry she didn't remember more.

She wondered how long this latest shopping trip would last.

This morning when she'd walked into the console room, the Doctor had given her a small, distracted smile as she'd perched on the captain's chair. He was idly turning dials, pretending he was involved in some important adjustments. Rose had fought to keep her face neutral, hoping uncharacteristically for a day that didn't involve shopping. At first, she had been grateful for the slower pace. It had been a nice change from getting into trouble all the time, but frankly she was getting bored of it. And on top of everything, he was still watching her as if she were a science project or something that might break.

A basket of blue stones on table in front of her caught her eye. They were covered with familiar patterns.

Uncannily, the Doctor turned to look at her just as she held up a polished stone intending to show it to him.

"Oh, look. It's so pretty," she gushed. "And it looks like your language."

He stared at her blankly. "Hmm?"

Rose rolled her eyes and poked out her tongue cheekily, hoping to get his attention back. "This stone, what does it say?"

He focused on her then, eyes narrowing in confusion. "What?"

"What does it say?" She waved the hand with the stone in it to clarify.

"What are you talking about? It doesn't say anything, Rose. It's a stone, azurite. Rather common on Earth."

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "I _know_ it's a stone, but look at the patterns. It looks like your writing."

"It may slightly resemble it, but it clearly isn't. Come on." And he moved off, leaving her to hastily put the stone back on the table before she chased after him in irritation.

"Doctor!" she called, catching hold of his sleeve to slow him down.

He looked at her with concern as he obliged her and steered them out of the flow of the crowds.

"Rose?"

She captured one of his hands in hers, half-afraid he would hurry her along again.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm always all right," he said with a shrug.

Rose sighed at his automatic answer. "It's like you're not even here with me."

The Doctor's face fell a little, the corners of his mouth turning down unhappily. He curled his fingers of his captured hand securely around hers.

"I might be a little distracted." He bent slightly to look into her eyes. "Sorry, I'm just..."

"It's okay." She tried for her most winning smile. "Are we all done here? I'm getting really tired of shopping."

He flashed her a guilty look. "Yeah, thought you might be." He paused for a moment then brightened. "You know, there is this planet I was meaning to take you to."

"Yeah?"

"We could go now - if you like."

She let her wide smile be her answer.

Giving her his first real grin all day, he tucked her arm around his and turned them back toward the TARDIS.

And that's when it all fell to pieces.

  


The Doctor mentally rattled off a string of invectives in three languages. This day had been one misstep after another. The fact that he was using fully eighty percent of his sizable brain-power on getting them safely aboard the TARDIS and dematerialised only proved how exhausted he was. He left it up the other nineteen-and-one-half percent of his brain to keep a firm grip on Rose's hand while not losing his footing. He allowed the scant half per cent to indulge in worry and fear.

He was a fool. He shouldn't be allowed out of the TARDIS without proper supervision. In his quest for distractions, he'd forgotten one crucial detail about this sector of space. The Vellairae. A scourge upon the universe, the Vellairae were a psychic race with a penchant for dealing in smuggled goods and an understandable intolerance for other psychic species that could uncover their questionable activities. He'd been so busy listening to Rose's unshielded emotions that he'd missed the first signs of danger until it was too late. He'd been well-trained to keep prying minds out, but Rose was wide open and the psychic attack had come from nowhere.

She'd clutched at her head with a cry an instant before he'd felt it; slimy mental fingers clawing her mind. Without a thought, he'd cupped her face in his hands and linked their minds, throwing a hasty mental shield around hers. She'd relaxed immediately.

"What just happened —" she murmured weakly in confusion.

"Later! Run!" he'd called, grabbing her hand.

There were at least six assailants trying to home in on them, twisting and worrying at his mental shields as he strained to protect both their minds. The effort was starting to take its toll. How much farther was it to the TARDIS anyway?

At last, the welcome blue loomed ahead of them. He sighed with relief when he finally opened the doors and pushed Rose inside. He felt a moment of calm once he stood in front of the time rotor, staring up at its comforting glow. He began to relax his mental shields, unknotting his mind from hers. Then abruptly, pain shot through his skull and his world dissolved into a sea of colour.

  


Running, running, always running. That, at least, was nothing new. What was new was the feeling of desperation pouring off the Doctor. It was almost tangible in the way he gripped her hand and pulled her along. She'd been too surprised to worry earlier after he'd warded off whatever had been attacking her. Now she felt the first tinges of panic creeping up from her stomach.

The Doctor was stumbling, looking pale and shaky to her eyes. Her focus had narrowed to the man leading their hasty retreat. It was surprising, then, when she felt herself propelled through the doors, landing unceremoniously on the hard metal floor as he swept past her toward the console.

She was letting the giddiness of relief have its way with her, when it happened. One minute the Doctor was grinning smugly at the time rotor and the next he lay in a tangled heap on the floor.

The air left her lungs like a physical blow and she ran to his side. He was clearly unconscious, laying still and pale on the grating. Rose shivered with fear and uncertainty. It was one thing when _she_ got hurt or wandered off. She knew the Doctor would manage. But she was no Doctor. Rose felt as helpless as she did at Christmas, blundering through half-remembered phrases, stalling for time. Now it was almost worse. No world was at stake and there was nothing to fight. Nothing but her and the unnatural stillness. The TARDIS was still planet-bound but at least no-one could get in. Of that much she was sure.

Rose looked at him helplessly for a moment and then she made a decision. He needed to be in the infirmary. She slid behind him and sat him up against her chest. Locking her arms around his chest just under his arms, she began to slowly drag him toward the corridor.

When she reached the medbay, ready to collapse from exhaustion, she found the exam bed had moved down to almost floor height so she could roll the Doctor onto it. Once that was done, it slowly raised up again. Grateful as Rose was for this, all could do now was stare helplessly at the baffling equipment.

"What do I do now? Help me," she implored the coral walls.

A flicker of light beside her had her jumping back in fright. An image of the Doctor wavered into being.

"Voice interface activated," it said in a bland, unemotional voice.

"Oh," she gaped at the image for a moment before she recovered. "What's happened to him? What do I do to help him."

A scanner clicked on and began to move overhead. The nearby display swirled with unreadable text.

"There was a psychic attack. The Doctor's higher brain functions have been blocked off."

"What does that mean."

"He is dying."

"What?"

"He is dying."

Rose bit her lip to stop herself from crying. "You mean he's going to regenerate?"

"Unknown."

"Unknown! What do you mean unknown?"

"Odds of regeneration in this condition are twenty-four point one percent."

"Well, we have to help him then, what do we do?"

"Unknown."

"You have all that Time Lord knowledge in there." She waved her hand at the read out desperately. " How can you not know?"

"There is no data on this. When the pilot is incapacitated in this manner, the default setting is to return to place of origin. However, the Doctor has removed that setting and override is not possible as place of origin no longer exists."

"So what does that mean?"

"He is dying."

"Right. Lot of good you are." Rose made a sound of frustration. "I know you're only trying to help, but having, well _you_ , tell me that you're dying is really starting to freak me out." She sighed and let her head droop.

"This better?" a familiar voice asked her.

She turned to see Jack Harkness standing there. She bit her lip. "Yeah."

"So how do I save him?"

"You can't."

"I can't. So what, he just dies? Just like that?"

"Unless he can save himself."

"You mean regenerate."

"No. Odds of regeneration in this condition are twenty-four point one percent."

Rose wanted to scream at the TARDIS for being so ... mechanical. "So what can I do? There must be something."

"You can't. You are human."

Rose's heart sped up at that. "Oh, so there is a way. You just don't want to tell me. What is it?"

"You are human. You have neither the mental abilities nor the training to treat psychic damage in a Time Lord."

"Just pretend I'm not human then and tell me anyway."

"I wouldn't recommend that."

"Since when did anyone on this ship do what was 'recommended?'" Rose sighed.

"Occurrence rate one-point-eight-one-two per cent."

"Well then...?"

"If you insist."

"Yes, I insist. Now tell me." Rose fought to keep her voice down. She doubted shouting at a hologram would do a lot of good.

"You must maintain physical contact with the Doctor at all times."

Rose looked at the prone Doctor uncertainly for a moment. Then she climbed up in the bed beside him, twining their limbs together to keep them in contact.

"Done. Next?"

"Open your mind to me. I'll guide you to him"

Rose frowned at Jack's image. "How do I do that?"

"Just as you did before. Don't you remember?" For a moment Jack-who-wasn't-Jack looked faintly annoyed. "Oh, I suppose not. He always did meddle."

"What are you—"

"Clear your mind and focus on what you need to do," the interface interrupted.

"What _do_ I need to do?"

"Find the Doctor, of course. Lead him into the light."

"But—"

"Focus. _Tempus fugit_."

 _The Doctor, the Doctor_ she told herself, fiercely, _find the Doctor._

"Well, are you ready?" Jack's impatient voice sounded next to her ear.

Her eyes shot open in shock and she found herself standing with Jack in a long corridor. She spun around in confusion. At either end was a door. The near one was wooden and reminded her of the type of door found at the old estate. The other door was ornate and looked antique.

"What? Where? This can't be—"

"Now you sound like him. This," Jack indicated the corridor, "is me. Or a representation of me that your linear, corporeal mind can quantify. If you are ready, he is just _there_." Jack pointed to the ornate door. "And _this_ one," he indicated the nearer one, "is yours. When the task is done, return here and re-enter your own mind."

Rose felt a frisson of fear. "What happens to my body if my mind is out of it?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Best not think on it."

"No, I'd like to think on it, thanks. Worst case scenario?"

"Prolonged coma state for the Doctor and Rose Tyler. Eventual death."

With that less-than-comforting thought, Rose stepped forward and opened the Doctor's door.

 

  



	5. Chapter 4: Help the Light to My Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the Doctor and Rose's journey together as they grow from friendship to something more. Can they overcome their separate fears to find common ground?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt 1** : [](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/profile)[**never_ever_will**](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/) [ prompt 24 pic 3](http://never-ever-will.livejournal.com/27503.html)  
>  **Prompt 2:** [ This Pic ](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51x52%2BCYHFL._SS400_.jpg)  
> **Notes:** Written for [](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://journeystory.livejournal.com/)**journeystory** Quotes from _The Little Prince/Le Petit Prince_ by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Chapter title from the song _Human Wheels_ by John Mellencamp.
> 
> Beautiful cover and chapter art by [](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://moodilylit.livejournal.com/)**moodilylit**  
> 

 

  
**Title:** Laughing at Stars  
**Author:**  
  
**glory_jean**  
**Character/Paring:** Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose  
**Rating:** Adult  
**Beta Team:** [ ](http://achuislemochroi.livejournal.com/profile)[ **achuislemochroi** ](http://achuislemochroi.livejournal.com/)[ ](http://annissag.livejournal.com/profile)[ **annissag**](http://annissag.livejournal.com/) ** ** **hidden_n_hot** [ **milieva** ](http://milieva.livejournal.com/)**[ ](http://oobiemcruby.livejournal.com/profile) **oobiemcruby** ****royalladyemma**  
****** **   
_______________________________________________  


 

  


 

  


 

 

_And I knew that I could not bear the thought of never hearing that laughter any more. For me, it was like a spring of fresh water in the desert._

The marketplace was crowded with aliens of every size and description. They milled about, haggling in countless languages that merged into a meaningless buzz of sound. The noise and the chaos filled her senses but underneath was the nagging feeling that there was something she was supposed to be doing. The scent of mysterious foods and spices drifted in the air and she found herself wanting to ignore her forgotten quest and just be in the here and now. She stilled where she stood in the centre of it all, just breathing it in as the cacophony of life parted and streamed around her. A hand touched her arm and turned her but its owner quickly vanished.

"This is not the way," a hushed voice said nearby. "Stay on the path."

Slightly flummoxed by her change in orientation, she looked up and found herself facing an elaborate market tent in a deep blue hue. Its tasselled flaps fluttered appealingly in the breeze and she felt inexplicably drawn to it. Before she realised what she was doing, she had ducked inside.

The noise of the market stopped instantly and the change was slightly unnerving. Ahead lay a long, grey, gothic corridor filled with closed doors. She felt a shiver of dread and wished the Doctor were here with her.

"Oh," she gasped as the breath left her and suddenly memory came rushing back.

She was in the Doctor's mind. No wonder the market had been so loud, she thought to herself, bemused. Rose moved slowly down the hall, finding every door she came to firmly locked. She came to a T in the corridor: one side was brightly lit and the rich wood of the doors gleamed warmly, the other stretched away into darkness, its weak lighting flickering ominously.

"So let's see, nice, bright hallway or scary, dark, mysterious one?" She looked from one to other. "Well, if this were a film, right about now I'd be yelling 'take the lighted one'. But seeing as it's you, Doctor..." At that moment, as if in answer, the flicker rate of the lights in the darkened corridor increased. "Yeah, thought as much."

Rose sighed and turned toward the shadows but as she entered the hall the light began to strobe. A wave of disorientation gripped her. She felt as though her mind was being wretched from her body. Rose fought for some sense of equilibrium and at first she wondered if her eyes were open or shut. She realized it didn't matter as she found herself somehow standing in a field of red grass. Nothing else met her eyes; no trees, no buildings. Above her head was a pale gray, sunless sky.

Rose looked desperately for some sign of the Doctor's presence. Struggling to walk through the oddly unyielding grass, she felt alone and cut off from everything.

Without thinking, she called out to the Doctor, "Where are you? Help me!"

Just as a sense of _déjà vu_ came over her, the Doctor suddenly appeared to her right and the feeling of inertia dissipated. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Doctor," she cried, weak with relief.

He did not so much as acknowledge her, remaining stiff and still in her embrace. She stepped back to find him regarding her with undisguised fury. It was the dark, merciless look he gave to his gravest enemy. Never before had she seen it directed at her. Seeing the coldness in his eyes, Rose could only gape wordlessly.

"Rose," he began, his voice deadly calm, "why have you invaded my mind?"

"Invaded," she gasped, stunned by his accusation. Didn't he understand? "No," she struggled to explain, "it's not like that. I—"

"Because there are few things more intrusive than this," he interrupted, seeming to not hear her.

"No, I had to. Don't you know what's happened? The TARDIS told me– she helped me to—"

"Helped you do _this_?" His voice rose angrily and Rose fought not to wince, "Why? Why would she do this?"

"Because you are dying. I had to. Your mind is locked away and your body can't cope. You have to come back with me."

He looked away, his face blank. He was silent for several moments. Rose fidgeted impatiently, but she didn't push, half afraid he would get angry again. She needed to be calm so he would listen to her. If she could just bring him back, "guide him to the light." Whatever that meant.

"You have to go." His voice was now soft and somewhat bleak.

"That's fine, but you're coming with me. You have to wake up."

"I can't," he argued.

"Yes, you can. That's why I'm here. I'm supposed to guide you."

"I can't. You can't," He insisted, waving off her argument. "You don't understand."

"Then tell me."

"That part of my brain is... involved. This– this... _me_ ," he yanked impatiently on his coat, "is just a tiny, representative fragment of who I am."

"You're right." He looked at her sharply so she added, "I don't understand."

A hint of a smile quirked his lips. "Good. You're not meant to. You humans think you understand multi-tasking – Ha! You don't know the half of it." In a heartbeat, he was deathly serious again. "You have to go now. If you get lost in here, I can't help you. And believe me, my mind is not a place you should be wandering off in."

"I came to wake you," she pressed. "I can't just leave you like this."

"Yes, you can. You must."

"Will you wake on your own?"

"Well, yes, of course, assuming I - weeell probably - oh, I'm almost completely sure I..." He looked almost amused at his own uncertainty and ruffled his hair into comical disarray. "I really don't know."

Rose was horrified. "Doctor!"

He sighed. "Rose..."

"No!" She shouted at him, angry now, "I won't do it! I won't leave you like this. What will happen if you can't wake?"

He began to pace, talking rapidly in that dismissive tone of his. "Perhaps I'll regenerate. That would be okay, right? New, new, new Doctor. Well, technically new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new Doctor, but close enough."

"That's not funny — Hang on, how many new's was that?" She realized even as she asked that he was trying to distract her.

The Doctor smiled at her fondly. "Thank you for trying, Rose, but this has to be goodbye. It's wrong of you to be here. I need to work this out on my own."

"No! Tell me what happens if you don't come out of the coma."

Doctor looked slightly frustrated. "I'm not sure, Rose. But whatever happens, the TARDIS will always take you home. Just ask her. If she led you to do this, she can guide you to my return program."

"Not going to happen," she said firmly.

"Yes, it is."

"No!" she argued, quelling the irrational urge to try to bodily drag him back with her. Why did he have to be so stubborn?

"Rose, you have to listen, I can't do this much longer. I'm losing control. I can't help you and my brain is much too dangerous for you be running around in unsupervised."

"Doctor —,"

"No," he said, refusing to let her interrupt and gasping her shoulders desperately, "I won't risk you, Rose. Not like this. Not for me."

"But... "

He moved close, resting his forehead on hers and whispered, "I can't. I'm sorry."

Then his image melted away entirely.

For a second, she was afraid she was being left on her own in the vast emptiness again. But when she looked up, she saw paths branching out all around her. They twisted upward and downward at once like a drawing of impossible staircases she recalled from school. It was all very surreal and she wondered briefly if the Doctor hadn't spent too much time reading fairy tales.

"Guess I'm down the rabbit hole now," she muttered.

She chose the nearest path. Soon the path gave wound into an forest attired in fall colours. Gradually, the sky changed to the orange of sunset and the foliage became all red and silver. With warning, the forest ended and she was standing on a hilltop overlooking a rocky plain. She traced its contours with her eyes and her breath caught in her throat. In the shadow of two snow-covered peaks, a vast domed city stood just ahead, shining and golden as a fairy tale land. Somehow it felt futuristic and ancient at once.

Then the scene seemed to swirl away and she was back in the corridor with the flickering light. For a moment Rose despaired, thinking she'd lost her chance to rescue the Doctor. Then she realized she was standing beside an opened door. From inside, came the sound of women crying. Rose fidgeted uncertainly in the doorway; her first impulse was to help, but, she told herself, none of this was really _real_ after all. Still, it couldn't hurt to could ask.

"Are you all right in there?" she called. There was no response but the room lightened a bit to reveal a huddled shape in the corner. Nearby, appearing to take no notice of where he was, the Doctor sat staring absently into space.

"What's happening here, Doctor?" Rose asked quietly. "Can't you help her?" She realised then he was staring at his hands and that they were covered in blood.

"Blood and tears," he murmured bitterly.

"What?"

"My life."

He turned his head and they were on a battle field. Daleks flew overhead, shooting lasers at unseen targets. The distant sound of screams and explosions filled the air. He began to walk not seeming to see the destruction around him.

"It always ends in blood and tears." He continued walking and Rose struggled to keep up. As they moved the scenery continually shifted like a film reel. A dark alley, a battle-scarred landscape, a green meadow in spring. "And so I run. I run, because I can't stop the tears or the death."

They stepped suddenly into a field of red grass darkened by night. An endless ceiling of stars winked overhead, a vast sea of diamond-like lights.

"But it always finds me."

A group of people gathered in firelight near a mysterious ringed structure. They wore heavy ceremonial robes with elaborate collars. Suddenly, a small boy came hurtling away from the gathering, catapulting past them and vanishing into the night. Rose had the strangest feeling that it was somehow the Doctor, long, long ago.

He stared sadly after the child. "I never wanted to be a Time Lord," he told her. "Well, I did. But I was rubbish at it. So as soon as I could, I ran. I ran from the chains, the discipline, the drudgery. The _responsibility_. I wanted freedom, adventure. I wanted ... fun."

He turned back to her. "I never wanted to 'grow up.' Grow so stodgy and _old_ like them." He waved a hand at the robed gathering and they vanished from sight. "So I never did." A shadow of a grin passed over his face. Then he moved onward and firelight and the stone structure faded as well.

"But everywhere I went, responsibility found me. Until, ultimately, it was mine, _all_ of it. No-one to share the burden and no-one who could understand it. Just me. The worst of them all, and yet _I'm_ in charge of everything. Gallifrey's fool as _the_ Lord of Time," he finished harshly.

They were once again on the barren plain, but now that shining planet whose name she now knew, Gallifrey, hung overhead, much closer than the Earth's moon, red grass, silver trees and shining citadel somehow visible. She blinked and the vision changed. The planet became a blackened husk, burnt and devastated, empty of plant-life and the great dome shattered, leaving the city a skeletal cinder. Piled at the ruined citadel's edge were the broken remains of the circular Dalek ships Rose still saw occasionally in her nightmares. She gazed at it all in horror.

A soft sound drew her gaze downward. Not far from her, seated near a shining tree, was the Doctor. His eyes were fixed on the dead world and a small tearless sob had escaped his throat. She went to his side immediately and sat beside him on the soft, red grass. Silver leaves danced overhead in a gentle breeze. In the strange parody of this dreamland, they sat on the surface of Gallifrey while looking up at its lifeless future.

She put her arms around the Doctor and he curled reflexively into her. She held on to him, murmuring to him reassuringly.

"It's okay. It's okay to miss them. It doesn't matter if you liked them or disagreed with them. They were your people. Of course you miss them."

He withdrew from her, angrily. "You think you understand me, but you know nothing," he spat at her. "I killed them all. _I_ did it. _I_ burned the planet. I _made_ it happen."

She gasped in surprise.

"I murdered them, Rose. I have no right to grieve them."

"Doctor," Rose cried out desperately. She could feel him slipping away from her and tightened her arms around him as though she could somehow hold him here. "No. I know you. You must have had no other choice..."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you here? Why would you risk losing yourself, your sanity, for me?" He looked at with an unreadable look on his face.

"Be- because..." she stammered. She stopped and took a breath. "Because I love you."

He looked at her, furrowing his brow. "Do you though?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm."

Rose swallowed hard, his reaction sending pain searing through her heart. He continued to look baffled and she wanted nothing more than to shut out this moment and the expression on his face.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, feeling silly and very young. "I should never have said that. I should know better—"

He cut her off with an urgent, crushing hug.

"No, no, no. Shh, shh, shh," he said with some desperation. "No, I said something wrong."

"Doctor—"

"Shhh! No, no. I was supposed to say something. Or – do something. Oh! Think, think, think! Why can't I think?"

She felt he wanted desperately to ruffle his hair but he wouldn't let her go long enough to manage it. Rose squirmed a hand free to stroke his cheek. His eyes fell shut in reaction and he sighed.

"Rose," he murmured. "My Rose...."

As they sat together, the soft Gallifreyan breeze dissipated and the air grew bitter and cold. They were still sitting under the silver-leafed tree but now they were now surrounded by vast waves, frozen and still, gleaming like blue-green glass.

"Do you remember...."

Rose smiled in recognition. "Yes."

"Such a nice day." He moved to stand urging her up with him.

"Yes, it was."

"But there were other days. Some better and some worse. Like the day I took from you."

Rose turned to him. They were back in the corridor and all the doors were standing wide open.

"Nine hundred years and then some. Can you imagine what it's like to be faced with all those days?"

Realisation dawned on her suddenly. "The TARDIS said something about an attack."

"Yes."

"These doors are all memories. You can't close the doors."

He flashed her a grave look. "I can't close the doors."

" _That's_ why you wanted me to go."

He refused to meet her eyes.

"What if I helped? Close them I mean."

He looked at her appraisingly then shrugged and looked faintly hopeful. "Only one way to find out."

They moved together to the nearest door and slowly they pushed it closed. It resisted as though they were pushing against wind, but they managed without too much trouble. Rose glimpsed what looked like a lab filled with strange equipment just before it shut. She was about to comment about how easy that had been when the Doctor suddenly yanked her away just as the door banged open violently.

"Worth a shot," the Doctor muttered glumly.

"Again," Rose insisted before he tried to tell her to leave again. They pushed it shut once again and Rose leaned her weight on it, bracing her feet against the floor. "I have an idea," she said quickly as the door began to rattle against her back. "Get the sonic."

"Rose, it's not a real door—"

"Try it anyway. It's your door, your sonic. You know it will work because you made it."

"Mind over matter?" He smirked at her, but dutifully produced the sonic and buzzed it at the lock.

Cautiously, they stepped back, regarding the door with suspicion. It stayed closed.

"Well then," the Doctor said thoughtfully, then flashed her a grin, looking more like the man she knew. " _Allons-y_!"

They dashed up the hall shutting doors and locking them firmly with the sonic. It felt so much like just another adventure, Rose had to keep reminding herself, it was all in her, well, the Doctor's, head.

They were nearing the end of the hall of doors when they came to a door with a strange, golden light that pooled on the floor just outside. Nearby were other doors with sounds of battle, raised voices and Dalek screams. She ignored the sounds in the other rooms, inexplicably drawn to that golden light.

"Rose, don't," the Doctor called to her weakly but she paid him no mind.

She drew even with the door and peered inside.

The game station. Twisted wires the Doctor had been working on lay tangled on the floor. Daleks. Things about that day she recalled, but not. Then, herself, haloed in gold in front of the TARDIS.

"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself," she said while her Doctor in leather looked on with a mixture of awe and horror. Her voice, but not. Her words, but not. Something began to pulse in the back of her mind. Something she felt she should know.

"Rose!" Then the Doctor was there, her current Doctor, pulling her away and forcing her to look at him. "I took this day from you. I took it for a reason. You don't need– you shouldn't have to—"

But she had already turned her head back to the room even as he gripped her arms tightly.

Daleks to dust. Everything golden hues. And she knew all this. Somehow. But not. How could she let go?

"Doesn't it drive you mad?" The Doctor's voice drifted to her in its northern tones.

 _Yes,_ she answered silently.

"I think you need a Doctor."

Lips on hers then, and now. Only this time she felt it from his side of things. Felt what he did, felt how much he... For a fleeting moment, her mind touched his in a strange, thrilling way. She was overwhelmed; her human brain unable to process it all. Then a hand took hers. The Doctor, the current Doctor, stood before her.

"Please," he murmured, "don't look any more." A door appeared between her and the past and he pushed it closed. She cast a longing look back and he cupped her check, turning her look at him. "Rose, don't," he pleaded with quiet urgency. "It's too... personal."

She nodded and swallowed hard, trying to separate her feelings from his. "I know. I'm sorry." She squeezed his hand, shakily. "I didn't remember. I'm not very good at this."

When he spoke his voice sounded almost normal. "You're only Human." He grinned at her indignation. "But I think you're doing brilliantly."

A small smile formed on her lips. "Yeah?"

"Oh, yes."

Rose forced herself to break from his gaze and saw with surprise that the remaining doors, save one, were shut. From the last, the familiar hum of the TARDIS filled her ears. She thought to go through that door and the corridor shifted dizzily and they _were_ there, inside the room. She felt she might have fallen if the Doctor was not still holding onto her.

Rose stood in a control room vastly different than the one she knew. The main room was vast. The console stood on a stone dais flanked by steel girders that rose high overhead. Off in the shadows, Rose could see groupings of furniture.

"What's happened to the TARDIS?"

The Doctor was staring at her like she was a dangerous, unfamiliar creature but he managed, "Nothing. Yet."

She stepped onto the dias looking around with wonder. Taking a closer look at the console, Rose could see that while it used seemingly low tech knobs and switches, nothing was broken and everything was tidy. She ran her hand over a control panel the colour of aged leather with neat little roman numeral dials set into it. A pang of inexplicable sorrow hit her heart that the familiar assortment of strange, cobbled-together equipment was nowhere to be seen.

"That's right," came an unfamiliar voice. "Once upon a time things were different. The universe was not at war. Things were just a little... kinder and there was such a thing as 'order' in the universe."

She turned to see a man in a white hat leaning on an umbrella.

"Rose Tyler," he continued, rolling the "R"s dramatically. "What do you see when you look at the stars? Light, calm, serenity perhaps?" He pressed a button and swept the hand holding the umbrella aloft as the TARDIS ceiling melted away into an amazing star scape.

Rose gaped, captivated. "Did it really do that? I mean, before."

"Yes," he said impatiently, "but don't get distracted. Answer the question."

"Oh. Yes, I suppose so."

"It's all an illusion, you know." Her eyes still fixed on the ceiling, Rose was confused for a moment until he went on. "If only you could see the chaos underneath it all."

She focussed on him again with a frown. "Doctor, you've got to stop this. We've been through this already."

He looked at her, uncertain now. "We have?" Then he seemed to flicker a moment and was suddenly a taller man clad a long, velvet coat, softly curling hair framing his face. "I can't remember that. What were we doing, Rose?"

Before she could form an answer he was racing around the console, frantically pushing buttons. "I have to do it. I have to stop the madness. I can't allow any more atrocities to continue."

"Doctor!" Rose shouted, grabbing his hands to still him. "You have to stop. You have to close this door right now and come with me. You have to let this go—"

Her voice cut off suddenly. It was as if a vice was somehow squeezing the air from her lungs. Rose wanted to cough or gasp, but there was no breath in her body to allow her do either. Hands grasped her hard by the shoulders and her greying vision cleared.

"Rose," the Doctor whispered in anguish.

With a shimmer, Jack appeared by the console. "Rose Tyler, you must cease this rescue attempt immediately. Your vital signs are reaching a critical state. Your body will fail if you persist."

"Oh, Rose, what have you done?"

"I'm sorry. It was the only way I could think of. I have to save you."

"You have to get out but I can't help you. History is repeating itself. I have to re-live these memories now. You've got yourself hopelessly entangled in here."

She felt weaker by the moment, her body starting to go limp in his arms. He led her to the nearest chair and lowered her into it.

"I'm sorry," she repeated in a whisper. "I thought I could just help you close all the doors and everything would be fine."

His voice was distant and dream-like, "It was the Time Lords or the universe the last time. This time it's not the universe." He looked into her eyes in way that made her heart jump, "It's you, Rose Tyler." He stroked her cheek and then took a step back. "I was a coward then and I'm a coward now."

She wanted to call him on his dodgy thinking, but she lacked the strength.

"I'm not brave enough to let you go," he told her and he pulled a lever on the console. If Rose had expected light and expositions, she would have been confounded. Instead, there was a deafening un-sound, as if all noise had been removed, and an awful pressure. A darkness that was not mere darkness but a complete absence of light engulfed her...

 

...And she knew no more.

 

  


Rose awoke, floating in an endless sea of blackness. Was this death? Or was it the moment just before? She let herself despair; she had failed. The Doctor was gone and she was trapped in nothingness. She would have shivered if she had been able to feel her body. TARDIS/Jack's warnings trickled to the surface of her thoughts. She pictured the two of them wasting away until death claimed them both. Would he regenerate, dying over and over? The thought was agonising. Rose had never felt so helpless and alone.

She let her mind wander, remembering all the things she had seen and felt within the Doctor' mind. For the first time, perhaps, she could begin to understand just how different he really was from humans.

Hours or perhaps moments later, she felt a shadow pass over her. Before she could puzzle out how she could "feel" a shadow in the absolute dark, it came again; a whisper of feeling, sound, and sight all at once. Minute by minute, it grew stronger. It began to resolve itself into something familiar, so achingly familiar....

A touch on her forehead, a breath, a whispered word, "Rose," a sound so familiar.

Then, his voice was there, gently chiding, "Rose, wake up, you silly little human." She wanted to answer but she couldn't remember how. He calmly commanded, "Wake up now. You can infiltrate a Time Lord mind, force me out of my own subconscious, but you can't shift yourself out of your own brain?"

She tried to move towards his voice but she felt heavy and weighed down.

He tutted. "You're just not trying very hard, are you?"

She was so tired and wanted nothing more than to rest, but he continued to goad her, his incessant presence not allowing her to sleep.

"Come on Rose," his tone shifted into annoyance, "if you're just going to lie there, I'll have to take you back to your mum. Let her sort you out. I have no time for a lay-about who can't even get herself moving."

His ingratitude was galling. After the day she'd had and all she'd done for him...? She had a powerful urge to smack him. Suddenly, Rose opened eyes to see him looking down at her with a smug grin on his face. Part of her was pleased to see him - or anything for that matter- but a larger part wanted to wipe that grin from his face.

"Welcome back." His eyes gleamed with unsuppressed pride. "Well, you certainly had a bit of an adventure for yourself, didn't you?"

"D-d-d," she tried to form his name, but her mouth refused to co-operate. Rose's eyes widened in panic.

"No, no," the Doctor quickly soothed, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. "It's okay. You're fine. Your brain's just a little confused right now. Needs to work out where everything is and what's what." He brought their clasped hands into her line of vision. "This doesn't even seem like your hand, does it? You can feel me holding it, feel the difference in our body temperature, but when you look at your hand - it just doesn't _feel_ like it belongs to you. Am I right?"

She looked and realised it was true. She nodded her head and even that motion seemed to come from a distance, as though she had thought of moving and someone else's body echoed the movement. She looked at him nervously, silently imploring him to fix this. He watched her silently for a moment then squeezed beside her on the narrow bed.

"You spent far too long inside my head. It's going to take a little bit for your mind to reorient itself. It's a bit like a newborn or a person with brain injury. You'd suffered through a psychic attack and then you..." he broke off, seemingly overwhelmed. "You have to learn to feel again. You _will_ be fine, though. There's no damage, everything's perfect. You just need rest. Rest and time and you'll be right as rain."

She nodded again, trying to ignore how strange it felt. He smiled down at her then leant and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Thank you, Rose Tyler," he murmured close to her ear.

 

  



End file.
